The drive control of the invention adopted in a hybrid vehicle specifies an operation line L to give a greater torque in a low rotation speed area of an engine with an increase in vehicle speed and controls the operation of the engine according to the specified operation line L. The engine can thus be driven at a higher-efficiency drive point, while the driving-related background noise effectively masks some abnormal noise or muffled noise, which may be caused by the operation of the engine in a low rotation speed-high torque area. This arrangement desirably prevents the driver and the other passenger from feeling odd and uncomfortable due to the abnormal noise or muffled noise and enhances the energy efficiency of the hybrid vehicle.